No jail time part of plea offer in $200,000 county theft case

No jail sentence part of offer in alleged theft of more than $200,000

By Bob Gardinier

Updated 8:25 pm, Thursday, August 15, 2013

Troy

A former Rensselaer County billing clerk is considering a plea to felony probation and restitution after she was arrested in 2012 for allegedly stealing more than $200,000 from the county over a five-year period.

Brenda Kennedy, 32, of Troy appeared before Judge Debra Young on Thursday and was turned over to the county probation department. An October court date was set for her expected plea. She is free on bail.

Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally said Kennedy is being offered five years probation and $5,000 in restitution, the amount not covered by the county's insurance carrier.

Kennedy faces charges of grand larceny, falsifying business records and defrauding the government, all felonies, for alleged thefts between 2007 and 2012.

Kennedy initially was charged with taking $75,000 after the thefts were discovered by county officials. A state audit that began shortly afterward indicates that she may have stolen as much as $208,000 while working at the county Public Health Department.

The audit concluded that inadequate financial controls gave the 10-year employee sole responsibility for collecting and depositing several million dollars in fees written to the health department's accounting unit.

As a billing clerk, she was responsible for collecting fees for services such as immunizations, cancer screenings and services for children with special needs, the audit shows. Her office also received payments for permits, fines and fees for environmental services.

The audit showed hundreds of receipts totaling $111,582 were never recorded in accounting records or sent for deposit to the health department's financial unit. In addition, more than 300 additional receipts were recorded for $77,582 less than had been received. In one instance, state auditors found a check for $3,746 recorded as a $2,296 deposit.

County Executive Kathy Jimino has said that since the misappropriation of funds was discovered, the Public Health Department has undertaken policy and procedural changes to strengthen controls.